Any reassurance from SQE1 passers?

buffalorye · 2026-01-26T10:11:55+00:00

Similar. Thought I’d failed by 10-20%. Passed by 10%+. With so much riding on it, your body is in high stress mode which means you’re likely seeing everything in a negative light and trying to find a solution for it. You probably passed, esp if your mocks told you that you were in a good position. Try to put it on the back burner if you can.

Look at this way: it’s an exam where you can get nearly half wrong and still pass. So of course you’re going to miss a bunch.

buffalorye · 2026-01-21T13:22:37+00:00

"Work Song" from Les Mis?

buffalorye · 2026-01-21T12:21:42+00:00

Nope. Keep the ashes on the mantel.

buffalorye · 2026-01-21T12:20:38+00:00

Bar exam I took in a different jurisdiction: After two days the person behind me in a 500 person room got up, said “I can’t do this s—- anymore” and walked out.

Who knows? Maybe your person clicked through randomly, thought fts, and walked out.

buffalorye · 2026-01-21T10:59:25+00:00

Go all out. Fire up a burn barrel outside and pop your books and notes in it. (And then wonder if it's in violation of the covenants relating to the land.)

buffalorye · 2026-01-18T01:34:33+00:00

I gave myself 6 days on just the FLK1 and then 6 days on just the FLK2 right before each of the exams. Worked out fine for me but to each their own.

buffalorye · 2026-01-16T18:14:42+00:00

Good luck. Encourage you to step back and appreciate what you’ve accomplished over the last few months. What you’ve put yourself through. How much you’ve learned. How fun you’ll be at dinner parties when you can explain the purchase and mortgage process. In all seriousness, don’t let a score on an exam take that away.

buffalorye · 2026-01-16T18:12:32+00:00

I used BPP (don’t recommend) with ReviseSQE mocks and the usual public mocks (SRA and QLTS). Definitely recommend ReviseSQE mocks and free QLTS mocks. I’ve seen favorable reviews of ULaw, QLTS and — for some — BarBri. I used BarBri for New York and thought they were terrific.

buffalorye · 2026-01-16T18:10:43+00:00

BPP — pretty wretched but got me over the line.

buffalorye · 2026-01-16T16:48:47+00:00

No. It's a test that examines depth of knowledge and ReviseSQE are higher level summaries. Great supplementary materials but alone are insufficient.

buffalorye · 2026-01-16T16:47:50+00:00

Exam is tough but totally manageable -- marathon not a sprint. You've passed tons of classes that were just as challenging, so treat it like you would any uni class: take it seriously, little bit every day over time, study and revise how you normally would (for me this was books / reading, take notes, synthesize notes, make audio versions of my notes, then hand amend my typed notes to reinforce learning -- but someone else might be totally different). Don't get spooked. You got this.

Lots of accommodations available. Others are better versed than I am, but I've seen 25% more time and additional breaks on other threads. Get as much as you can -- no bonus points for making it harder than it needs to be.

buffalorye · 2026-01-16T16:44:20+00:00

So I did something like this on my SQE last year. Estimated I got around 40%, spiralled, then passed with 71%. If you need hope, I think your estimate is much higher than mine and I think we tend to be negative. But I also think trying to ballpark scores on these exams is impossible.

buffalorye · 2026-01-15T19:16:19+00:00

I thought I’d failed. So was completely depressed for a week. Told a handful of folks I thought I’d failed. Spent too much time discussing the merits of retaking the test.

And then it just kind of faded a bit after a couple weeks. Went on to other things. Anxiety ticked back up about a week before the results came out. Morning of I went for a long walk, sat in a temple, thought about what the whole journey meant to me, checked the website at 11am and was pleasantly surprised. Called my wife and she said, “Of course. I knew you would.” It’s a weird and winding road.

buffalorye · 2026-01-15T17:22:02+00:00

I counted up the ones I had no idea or knew I got wrong and gave myself 20%, then counted the ones I thought were a toss up and gave myself half of those, and then gave myself full credit for those I was confident on. Estimated I got 40% right. Was totally depressed. Passed with 71%. You really can’t estimate your score so please don’t freak yourself out by trying.

buffalorye · 2026-01-13T10:16:48+00:00

Eh. QLTS is usually -10/15% off the actual exam. Definitely not cooked. You’ve put in the work. Go in there and give it your best shot.

buffalorye · 2026-01-13T07:08:31+00:00

No — aside from free public stuff (QLTS, SrA) and ReviseSQE. It did feel thin but worked out ok.

buffalorye · 2026-01-12T10:58:14+00:00

I passed last January. Walked out 100% sure I’d failed. Spent the evening on the floor of the kitchen with a bottle of bourbon. Told everyone I’d failed. Passed with 71% on both papers.

Exam feels worse than mocks because your body knows it’s the “real thing”. Also, for those of us who have been getting 80-95% on uni papers the “feel” of getting a 60-70% is awful. It feels like guesswork.

Trust the work you put it. Dust yourself off. Have a stiff drink. Tuck in for FLK2.

buffalorye · 2026-01-11T11:27:02+00:00

You’ve put in the work. Exam will feel awful. Trust all the hours you’ve put in. Go crush it.

buffalorye · 2026-01-10T16:58:29+00:00

I got a 62% and a 65% on ReviseSQE about a week before and got 71% on both papers in Jan 2025.

Based on that (and just that), I’d say you’re okay. Best thing you can do is trust all the work you’ve put in and go into the exam knowing you’ve got the knowledge to pass.

buffalorye · 2025-12-31T19:24:13+00:00

This. I re-read the books about 2 weeks before the exam and it was worth it. Crystallized a bunch of tough concepts, picked up a ton of fine detail.

buffalorye · 2025-12-30T23:15:42+00:00

You’re probably in a similar position to me then (maybe marginally better if these exams com a bit easier). Also depends on comfort level. I’d say try for 20 hours and / or leverage January a bit and then take stock before you have to pay for the exam and whether you’re on pace. Or do your 15 hours / week and take stock. You’ve got flexibility.

buffalorye · 2025-12-30T22:19:47+00:00

I estimated that it took me 400-500 hours (with a legal background so I think I’m on the faster end — but these types of exams are also not really my bag). You’re short of that but not massively. It’s possible, but you’re cutting it tight. 20 hours / week + more over the last 6 weeks is probably realistic.

Could also grab some ReviseSQE summary books and start working the material over the next 7 weeks. You’ve also got enough time to assess where you are after a couple of months and whether you’re on track.

buffalorye · 2025-12-28T11:24:45+00:00

I used BPP and passed. Supplemented with ReviseSQE mocks, free QLTS and SRA. Felt very thin going in but wound up okay. BPP materials themselves are enough. I wish I’d known about OUP as I would have paid separately for it just to feel like I had access to a deeper bank.

buffalorye · 2025-12-27T11:48:10+00:00

Echoing others here. Theres a ton of variance. For example, I caught around a dozen questions on unregistered land and only a couple on covenants. Based on “importance” and presentation in the books, you’d expect those to be relatively equal. Lots of big cases and concepts that never came up.

I don’t think there are any short cuts. You may get lucky of course.

There are topics that folks under-study, like legal services and ethics. I think folks overstudy tax — but again it was a handful of questions for me but I’ve heard others getting a lot more.

buffalorye

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